Athens’ Best Italian Restaurants: 21 Essential Picks

In Neo Psychiko, Lolita’s is as much a night out as it is a dinner. The Italian-leaning menu goes from burrata Caprese and linguine with ragù to pizzette for the table. Meanwhile, the bar keeps the polished room busy long after the main course. Book it for a sociable evening when the company matters as much as the food.

Leoforos Kifisias 340, Neo Psychiko

This osteria in Palaio Faliro doesn’t try to reinvent anything. It simply cooks familiar dishes very well. There’s handmade pasta, pizza from the wood-fired oven, and a wine list that goes well beyond the obvious Italian regions. The garden and open kitchen make it feel like a neighborhood place, and it’s best for a long, unhurried meal.

Gorgopotamou 14 & Achaion, Palaio Faliro

Brunello is named after one of Tuscany’s great wines, and that tells you its priorities. In a polished indoor space in Kolonaki with cozily-placed tables lining the sidewalk, handmade pasta, pizzette and antipasti come alongside a wine list that makes it easy to order another glass. You can settle in for a full dinner or drop by on a whim, enjoying the low lighting, social buzz and elegant people-watching.

Loukianou 21B, Kolonaki

04

Amante Athens

Amante sits in a neoclassical building in Kerameikos, with playful art on the walls and a cocktail bar that keeps the energy up. Chef Daniele Chiantini cooks Italian classics in a modern style: spinach-and-ricotta ravioli, sea bass acqua pazza and a slow-braised ossobuco. Come for dinner and expect to stay for the evening.

Paramithias 13, Kerameikos

Cupola has been serving Italian comfort food in Pangrati since 2017, and it hasn’t lost its easygoing charm. Pizza and pasta are the core of the menu, along with arancini Bolognese and rigatoni with pistachio. On a warm evening, try to get one of the tables out on the pedestrian street, where the neighborhood strolls past.

Efforionos 13, Pangrati

On the corner of Voulis and Apollonos, a few minutes’ walk from Syntagma, Ami is a small bistro with a vintage-inspired room. The formula is simple: pasta, wine and cocktails. Its central location makes it easy to reach, and a relaxed dinner here often turns into a late night.

Voulis & Apollonos, Syntagma

In Ilioupoli, Mario & Luigi serves Italian comfort food in generous portions, with fresh pasta at the heart of the menu. The atmosphere is casual, loud in a good way and never fussy. It’s a reliable choice when you want a hearty dinner away from the city center.

El. Venizelou 190, Ilioupoli

Mercato is the Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons Astir Palace on the Athenian Riviera. Pasta and pizza share the menu with Mediterranean seafood, and the terrace looks straight out to sea. The setting is polished but relaxed. Save it for a long lunch or a dinner worth the drive.

Apollonos 40, Vouliagmeni

People drive to Vari for Napul’è’s Neapolitan pizza. The wood-fired pies are the main event, with antipasti and pasta filling out a menu of southern Italian comfort food. The dining room is warm and crowded most nights, which makes the trip down the coast part of the fun.

Leoforos Vas. Konstantinou 43, Vari

At Etien, everything starts with the dough. It’s made with flour from Molino Paolo Mariani and left to ferment for at least 24 hours before it becomes a Neapolitan-style pie. The menu is short and the room is simple, so the pizza gets all the attention. This is Neo Psychiko’s address for when pizza is the whole plan.

25is Martiou 28, Neo Psychiko

Near Syntagma, chef Panos Ioannidis puts a modern spin on Italian favorites. Handmade pasta, risotto and canotto-style pizza, with its puffy, airy crust, share the menu with more playful dishes like tartare Bolognese. The central location draws a lively crowd, and the service keeps up with it.

Apollonos 4, Syntagma

12

Odori Vermuteria di Atene

Odori is a bar first and a pizzeria second. Here in the historic center, Neapolitan-style pizza comes with a serious list of vermouth and amaro. Start with a pie, work your way through the bitters and stay for the evening. It’s a lively alternative to the traditional trattoria.

Skouleniou 2, Historic Center

13

Osteria Mamma

On a pedestrian street in Kerameikos, Osteria Mamma cooks in the spirit of the Italian family kitchen, with more polish than most homes. Arancini alla carbonara, ravioli filled with ossobuco and a chocolate budino show a kitchen that cares about comfort and detail alike. The room is quietly elegant and suits a slow dinner.

Salaminos 64, Kerameikos

14

Santa Lucia

At this Pangrati trattoria, the ingredients lead. Italian traditions meet Greek produce: vegetables and herbs from Crete, aged graviera and kefalotyri, and olive oil from Kolymvari. The cooking is straightforward and full of flavor, and the room is bright and relaxed. It shows how naturally the two cuisines go together.

Archelaou 30, Pangrati

Monzù is in a 19th-century villa in Kifisia, which makes any dinner feel like an occasion without requiring you to dress up. The modern, Italian-inspired menu starts with amberjack tartare, steamed mussels and beef carpaccio, then moves on to seasonal pasta and mains. The historic setting is part of the appeal.

Leoforos Kifisias 317B, Kifisia

16

Prac.sitele

In the historic center, Prac.sitele gives pasta and Neapolitan-style pizza equal attention. The more ambitious dishes stand out, like shrimp cappelletti in Parmesan cream and conchiglioni with slow-cooked veal tail. The modern room keeps the focus on the plate.

Praxitelous 7, Historic Center

Brera takes its name from Milan’s most refined neighborhood and opens early. Espresso and focaccia come from the counter in the morning. Sicilian chef Pino Saccheri’s menu pairs fresh pasta and light, airy neo-Neapolitan pizza with bolder ideas, such as cacio e pepe with Aegina pistachio and linguine with prawns in an avgolemono sauce. At night, Agia Irini Square gets louder, with cocktails, more than 40 wines and DJ sets on weekends.

Plateia Agias Eirinis 8, Monastiraki

Sole Giaguaro is named after an Italo Calvino short story. Its chef, Bari-born Giovanni Scaraggi, first made his name in a remote village in southern Rhodes. His cooking has Puglian roots and influences from his travels: octopus with guanciale, handmade pappardelle with braised beef cheeks and slow-roasted porchetta. Take your time with the bread basket, which includes taralli from Bari. The room, designed by Cluster Architects, is built around an open kitchen that works like a stage, and the wine list is mostly Italian.

Troon 66, Ano Petralona

Da Bruno has been in Palaio Faliro since 1985, and its tiramisu has been on the menu the whole time. Owner Dimitris Tsoukaris still imports ingredients from Italy. Fresh pasta comes first, including bauletti filled with braised beef cheek in a Barolo sauce. In season, look for white truffle from Alba and spaghetti tossed inside a wheel of aged Parmigiano Reggiano. A sommelier handles the wine list, and in summer the leafy courtyard fills up.

Agiou Alexandrou 46, Palaio Faliro

GiO is the Italian restaurant at The Margi, with a menu by Michelin-starred chef Panagiotis Giakalis. It starts with the hotel’s own farm in Koropi, whose produce goes into paccheri al ragù, scaloppine al limone, truffled gnocchi and spaghetti al pesce. Desserts are by award-winning pastry chef Manolis Stithos. In winter, you eat in a calm room papered with small orange trees. In summer, dinner moves out to the poolside garden.

Litous 11, Vouliagmeni

Pino is Luca Piscazzi’s first restaurant of his own. He’s the chef behind the Michelin-starred Pelagos, and he opened Pino in 2025 with his wife, naming it after his childhood nickname. The menu is based on his grandmother’s Rome: thin, crisp Roman pizza, supplì al telefono, a creamy carbonara, cacio e pepe with prawns and risotto alla bolognese. The room is bright and relaxed, with a good cocktail bar and a mostly Italian wine list.

Kyprou 18, Glyfada